(Note: A slightly different version of this letter to the editor appeared in The Baltimore Sun on May 15, 2018)

Reporter Anne Flaherty’s report on the “violent clashes” at the Israel-Gaza border omitted key facts, not the least of which is the party responsible for the violence: Hamas and its Iranian sponsor (“Trump’s aides celebrate Jerusalem embassy as border burns,” May 14).

Hamas’s charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the genocide of Jews. Along with other U.S.-designated terrorist groups, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas has orchestrated the demonstrations, interspersing armed operatives among human shields for propaganda effect.

According to an April 26, 2018 report by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, as many as 80% of the Palestinians fatally shot up to that point have been linked to terrorist organizations. Hamas itself has openly acknowledged several of them as “martyrs.”

Nor are the protests because “infuriated” Palestinians, upset with the U.S. sovereign right to move its embassy, “seek east Jerusalem as a future capital.” In fact, Palestinian leadership has turned down several formal U.S. and Israeli offers for statehood in exchange for peace that would have given them a state with its capital in that portion of Jerusalem—most recently in 2008.

What then, were the “protests” really about? Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s exhortation prior to the demonstrations says it all: “We will take down the border and tear out their hearts from their bodies.”

The writer is a Senior Research Analyst for CAMERA, the 65,000-member, Boston-based Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America

CAMERA Author

Sean DurnsSenior Research AnalystSean Durns is a Senior Research Analyst for the Washington D.C. office of CAMERA. With a background in the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, he worked for several think tanks and for a former high-ranking Pentagon official before joining CAMERA. His articles regularly appear in a variety of media outlets, including The Washington Examiner, The Washington Times, The Hill, The Jerusalem Post, and The Washington Jewish Week.